Numbuh 7
by Pretty Princess Lollipop34
Summary: When a girl crash lands in the KND treehouse, Sector V isn't sure whether to believe her when she claims that she is the future daughter of two present day KND members. She can't possibly be telling the truth!... can she? 34, 25.
1. What an entrance!

**Numbuh 7**

**By ME:)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Codename Kids Next Door (if I did Numbuh 4 would have confessed to Numbuh 3 a _long _time ago!)**

**Just a little something I like writing when I can't sleep. Tell me if I should post the other chapters. Enjoy:D**

"I'm bored!" Numbuh 3 whined.

"Aren't we all?" Numbuh 1 cried, looking up from a comic he had already read 6 times.

"No missions in 3 days... surely _one _adult has been mean by now!" a very sulky Numbuh 2 moaned.

"Numbuh 5 would even enjoy an attack from Father , if it meant she could do _something_."

Everyone was sitting in the main room ( the one with the big TV) with nothing to do, except watch 'The Drying Paint Show!' which, let's face it, no one would do in a million years.

"For the love of crud!"Numbuh 4 screamed. "God, send down something, anything, just stop us from being so cruddy bored!"

Suddenly there was a bright flash of light, smoke, and a big boom! All the operatives quickly ducked under the table, but looked up to see what was going on.

A figure was slowly emerging from behind the smoke. If you looked at the right angle, you could see that it was a girl in space gear. As the girl walked closer, it was easy to see that she was of average height, with long, brown ,curly hair, and had a pair of red glasses on. She was lightly tanned and seemed a bit concerned.

" Um... sorry if I scared you, I'm still not very good at landing yet." she said in an half Australian half British accent

Numbuh 1 finally came to his senses, and pulled out his S.P.L.A.N.K.E.R.

" Listen here you! I don't know how you got in here, but I know how you're getting out!" he cried.

"Way to be polite, _Nigel_ !" the girl declared.

Numbuh 1 gasped. "_**You know my name**_?" he asked. The others started to climb out from under the table

"I know all your names! Nigel, Hoagie, Kuki, Wally and Abby."

They all seemed shocked. "Then you must be a spy! From the Delightful Children!!" Numbuh 2 yelled.

"Ew, who would work for _those _dorks?!" she exclaimed."I don't do evil and stupid, I'm in the KND."

"You're in the KND too?" Numbuh 3 said, hyper as ever. "Ooh ooh ooh! What Numbuh are you???"

"7"

"But Numbuh 7 doesn't look anything like you. Numbuh 7 is a red head, has blue eyes, and is a boy!" Numbuh 2 said.

"Maybe in 2007..." she suggested.

"Whadja mean 'maybe in 2007'? Numbuh 5 is confused!" the red-hatted operative asked.

"My name is Lara, aka Numbuh 7 of Sector V in the year 2029. My parents died in an accident when I was really small. I've been using this baby," she patted what looked like a purple Mini- Cooper with rockets, "to see if I can find them when they were younger, and warn them about it. It must be broken or something, because I think it sent me to the wrong year, I'm trying to find my 10 year-old parents. They were in the KND too, but I don't know what their Numbuhs were. So I'll just be on my wa...hang on. You guys are 10, right?"

They nodded. Except Numbuh 3, who yelled "My 10th birthday was last week! I had a cake and balloons and.." Numbuh 5 gave her a look, and Kuki very quickly shut up.

"Perhaps my machine isn't broken. Perhaps... no, it's crazy..."

"Well you're already a girl from the 'future' who crash landed into our tree house in a fancy car you say is a time machine. Try us." Numbuh 2 said.

"I think,maybe, perhaps,possibly..."

"Get to the point girl!" Numbuh 5 ordered.

"Fine then... I THINK TWO OF YOU MIGHT BE MY PARENTS!!" she cried.

There was an awkward silence.

"Erm, thanks God, this should keep us busy." Numbuh 4 mumbled

**Sooo... Is it worth carrying on?**

**Please review!**

**Lollipop.**


	2. Do you really think so?

Numbuh 7 

by ME!!:)

**Disclaimer: I don't own KND (looks towards sky) 'Why?... Why not me?...'**

**Hiya! Thanks for all your reviews! You guys rock! On with the story...**

"Aren't you guys gonna say anything?" Lara asked. "For a bunch of butt-kicking KND operatives, you guys aren't very talkative."

That had been the first comment in 3 minutes. Everyone else was still in a state of shock. Once Lara or 'Numbuh 7' had told them about the whole parents thing, no one had moved. Well, Numbuh 2 had gone to the toilet once, but that didn't really count.

"So, I guess I'll just warn y'all not to go driving on April 9th 2019. Got that?"

"Yah... sorta..." Numbuh 4 said. **(A/N I'll just call them by their first names now) **

"Good." Lara climbed into her Mini-Cooper thing, and started the engine. "I'll be seeing ya, in a few yea... uh oh..."

The engine wasn't starting up properly, and seemed to be swelling up. "Take cover!" yelled Hoagie.

They all ducked under the couch, just in time for the engine to explode. There was oil everywhere!

"Oh no! This is awful!" Lara said as she got up and looked round the room.

"I know, this'll take ages to clean up!" Abby commented.

"What? Oh, yeah, that's bad too I guess, but THIS THING IS A RENTAL!!!" she screamed.

Abby put her hand on her face and shook her head.

"But, does this also mean that , now your machine's broken and all,that you won't be able to go back?" Nigel asked.

"Until I find the right kind of engine, I'm stuck here." Lara replied.

"You can..." Nigel began reluctantly "... you can stay with us, I guess..."

"Oh, thank you!" she said with a big smile.

"Ooh! Please Numbuh 1, can she stay in my room, huh, huh, can she, huh, huh?" Kuki begged.

"No, she's probably got some sort of bed in that little thing of hers. She can sleep there."

"Oh, PLEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAASE? Oh, please, oh please, oh PLEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAASE?" Kuki was on her knees now.

Nigel sighed. "Fine, she can stay in your room. But I don't want anything that will disrupt my missions!"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she pulled him into one of her famous back-breaking hugs. ( Much to the jealousy of Wally)

"Come on then Lara! My room is this way!"

"Okay, Kuki..."

They walked to Kuki's room, and went inside.

Once they were out of ear- shot, Nigel started to panic.

"Do you think she's telling the truth?" he asked.

"Of course she is! They're in Kuki's room now aren't they? So Kuki must have been telling the truth when she said that!" Wally told him.

"NO, NOT _NUMBUH 3_!..." Nigel then brought his voice down to a whisper. "I'm talking about 'Lara' , if that is her real name..."

"Oh, cut it out Numbuh 1! Stop being so dang paranoid! Numbuh 5 thinks you should just take a chill pill!" Abby said.

"Yeah, Numbuh 1. She seems nice. I kinda like, _like_ her a bit..." Hoagie seemed to be in some sort of day dream, until Abby brought him back to reality, and hit him with her hat.

" Oh, sure! She _seems _like a nice girl, but thinks are not always as they seem! " Nigel snapped back at him.

"Numbuh 5 thinks you been eating Numbuh 3's fortune cookies again..."

"I have not! They're... very nutritious!... That's all..."

"_Right_...well, Numbuh 5 really thinks that maybe we should sleep on it." she said.

"Huh?" Wally asked. "Wouldn't that be a bit uncomfortable?..."

"No, not like that! As in, let's wait a few days, and if she does anything suspicious, we'll know if she's a spy or not. Okay?"

"Okay. But if she is telling the truth, that means... two people in this tree-house,... won't see their 30th birthday!" Hoagie cried.

* * *

"Oh my goodness! I LOVE YOUR ROOM!" Lara cried.

"Thank you! I've always liked it!" Kuki replied, putting a green rainbow monkey, next to an orange one. (A/N hint, hint!)

"It's so cool! I usually hate rainbow monkeys, but these are really cute!"

Lara smiled widely.

They sat down on the bed. "So, what's it like in the future?"

"It's good, but I'm not entirely sure. I live at an orphanage, you see. That's why I'm don't know much about a normal family life."

"Oh." Kuki seemed a bit surprised. "Well, what do you do in your sector?"

"I'm the 2x4 technology officer. I had to build my own room when I joined, because they only had five. It's a little like your's but I like your's way better!"

"But then, who's Numbuh 6?" Kuki asked.

"Remember Bradley?"

"Oooh! You mean that cute little baby skunk me and Numbuh 2 found at that camp?"

"Yeah him! He's still Numbuh 6, but he's not so cute anymore..."

"Why, what happened?"

"He's gained like a buhmillion pounds, and I had reinforce his room with steel, to keep the floor from breaking! Bradley's also gotten really ugly and stinky, so we have to wear gas masks whenever we wanna say hi to him!"

" Woah!" Kuki said. "How did you choose your Numbuh?"

" I didn't choose it."

" Really? Why not?"

"I wasn't there for graduation, so they just added my parent's Numbuhs together, and that made 7!"

Kuki gasped in her head. 3 and 4 make 7, so maybe I'm gonna marry Wally after all she thought.

" Um, Kuki?" Lara looked worried. " Are you feeling okay? You've got this really silly smile on your face, no offense."

" None taken. That was the best sentence I've ever heard..."

**Is it any good so far?**

**Please review!**

**Lollipop**


	3. Monday Morning

Numbuh 7

by ME!!:)

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Lara. Lara is MINE! MINE I TELL YOU! MIINNEE!!!!! cough, sorry, got a bit power mad... **

**Well, I'm soo pleased that you guys like it! Thanks to tater06, I Live A Loveless Life, readinangel, Stephanie120 and KNDfreak! You guys rock:)**

**On with the story...**

It was Monday. The beginning of the school week. But for the members of Sector V ( future and present) it spelled nothing but trouble. Kuki didn't have a clean pair of leggings, Hoagie couldn't find his Science book and Nigel was getting _just a little bit panicky_...

"AHHH!!! Are you mad??? We can't leave her _alone_! She could cause utter havoc!" he screamed. Like I said,_ just a little bit_.

"Where is it? I can't find it!! It was in my room a second ago, now it's gone! I'm gonna suffer a fate worse than death if I lose it again!!!" Hoagie declared.

"And what might that be?" Wally asked, being the only one ready for school.

"I'm gonna get... a DETENTION!!!"

It was now Wally's turn to cover his face with his hand, and shake his head.

"I can't find a clean pair of leggings!" Kuki ran into the room with her rainbow monkey pyjamas on. Wally was her eyeing for a while, until he realised that he still had to eat.

Lara walked out of Kuki's room wearing a red and black pyjama top, with trousers of the same design. But the colour changed very quickly to blue and purple. Abby was amazed.

"These are the pj's of the future?" she asked.

"Well, sorta. They're all I can afford." Lara replied.

The tree house was now a mess of noise. It was more than Abby could take.

"For the love of everything, would y'all just SHUT UP!!!!!" It was suddenly quiet.

"Thank you." Abby said calmly "Now, Kuki, there's a clean pair of leggings on the table. Hoagie, I'm _holding_ your Science book. And Nigel..."

"Yes?" Nigel asked.

"STOP PANICKING AND SHUT UP!!!!!"

"Geez, she's starting to sound like my mom..." Hoagie mumbled to Wally.

He received another slap from Abby's hat.

* * *

After Hoagie had packed his bag, Kuki had got dressed and Nigel had stuck his lips together with scotch tape, they all went into the kitchen and sat down at the breakfast table. As they were all pouring themselves some cereal, Lara asked if she could go with them, to... wherever they were going, she didn't know. 

"Absolutely not!" Nigel exaclaimed, the tape ripping off. "If you come, people will ask questions. They'll want to know where you're from and everything. I can't let you blow your so called 'secret', on your first day with us, so that's why you're staying."

She frowned. "Then what am I supposed to do in this prison?"

"Prison?"

"What else am I supposed to call a place where I am held against my will?"

"School."

"Oh." Lara paused. "What's a school?"

Hoagie spat out his orange juice, and Wally started choking.

_

* * *

_

_One packet of Kleenex and a Heimlich manoeuvre later..._

* * *

"You don't know what a school is?" Abby asked. 

"Nope. Is it something to do with learning, because all educational facilities where I live were outlawed in 2020. Now, the teachers come to you but only if you want them to." Lara told them.

The rest of Sector V just sat there, open mouthed. That had been music to their ears. Apart from Wally, who needed it explained more simply, _then_ it was music to his ears.

"We better get going. My homeroom teacher gets pretty cranky when we're late." Hoagie said, looking at his watch.

"Yeah, let's go guys." Nigel said, putting his back pack on.

"Okay, so you know where the food is if you get hungry, and if you need some rainbow monkey love, just hug the ones in my room!" Kuki began to whisper, " Except the green and orange ones on my bed. They're very special!"

"Ok Kuki!" Lara said.

"Bye Lara!" Hoagie waved to her, as they walked into the elevator thingy.

"Bye!" she said with a smile.

The doors closed and they were gone.

**I like this story! It's fun to write! **

**Please Review!**

**Lollipop.**

**:D**


	4. Walking home from school

Numbuh 7

by ME!!:)

**Disclaimer: I was **_**this **_**close to owning KND. I went to a convention. I won the grand prize in a raffle, and it was the ownership of KND! I was just about to sign the contract... and I woke up. **_**Drat...**_

**Hi! Thanks for your reviews! And sorry to tater06 and KNDfreak if you didn't get my replies, or if they were sent more than once. :( **

**My computer's just gone loopy!**

**On with the story...**

* * *

The last lesson of a school day isn't always a good one. Our heros are no exception, especially for Nigel, who was a complete nervous wreck. The second he had left the tree house it had been nothing but, "She's reading our plans!" or "She's stealing our weapons!" or even, "She's breathing our air!!".

Nigel, Abby and Hoagie all had their last lesson together, which was Maths.

" Now, class. Could you all do the exercises on pages 25 and 34. Nigel, clean up that foam around your mouth, and open your book!!!" their teacher instructed.

"Yes, Mr. Chadwick..." Nigel responded as if he was in some sort of trance.

"Good. Now I'll just give you an example..."

Abby leaned over in her seat and gave Nigel a light slap with her hat.

"Would you stop worrying about her, and concentrate!" she whispered.

" Yeah Nigel, you haven't even written the date!" Hoagie was very stuck into his work, and was doing all the questions very quickly.

Mr. Chadwick then came and told them that if they didn't shut up, it would mean extra homework. So, they quite obviously did.

Abby was working through it at a normal pace, and thought that she needed to speed up. But their was something on her mind.

Last night, Kuki had told her all about Lara, and how she had got her Numbuh. Kuki seemed really pleased.

3+4 7 Abby thought happily. So Kuki was going to get her happily ever after...

But then an idea hit her. Other numbers add up to seven as well! Like 1 and 6, and... 2 and 5... Abby gasped and glanced at Hoagie. What if...

She lost her train of thought when the bell rang.

"Ok kids, class dismissed. Don't forget to finish the exercises, if you didn't complete them today!"

They walked to Wally and Kuki's Maths class and began the march back to the tree house.

Nigel was breathing very hard, and needed more assuring that the tree house was still in one piece.

"Relax Numbuh 1! If anything was wrong, we would have heard an explosion or summin..." Wally said, and was rewarded with a death glare from Abby.

"Look, we're already next to the tree house... nothing's gone wrong yet..." Abby told him. Nigel believed her until they heard an evil laugh coming from Kuki's room.

"MUWAHAHAHA! One more to find, and my searching is complete! Finally after all of this searching, I will have done it!!! MUWAHAHAHA!!!" Lara's voice exclaimed.

Sector V were shocked! They had trusted her, and this was how she thanked them! By searching through their headquarters for plans?

"KIDS NEXT DOOR! CATCH HER!" Nigel yelled at the top of his lungs.

They were in front of Kuki's room faster than you could say "Rainbow Monkeys". They were all armed and ready to fight. Fight a girl who could quite possibly be their biggest threat... Nigel pulled back the curtain to reveal...

"Hiya guys!" Lara was sitting down cross-legged on Kuki's bed, with a 'Where's Waldo?' book. "I can see why the people in this decade like these books so much! They're fun! I just can't find that guy that looks like he's wearing a bee suit..."

Everyone else was stunned. Was this all she had been doing? Just sitting here with a book? Was this all she had been yelling about??...

"Um, you're looking at me in a really weird way... is there something wrong?" Lara asked.

"Well, 1, we thought you were ransacking the tree house for plans, and 2, the guy that looks like he's wearing a bee suit is called Odlaw, and he's right there!"Hoagie told her.

"Oh! I feel really stupid that I didn't see him sooner! Thanks!"

"Lara," Nigel had finally found his tongue, "We're gonna go out of the room for a little bit, so just stay here ... DON'T LISTEN TO US!!!... and er... just stay where you are!"

They left Lara in the room on her own.

"Guys, I don't want another scare like that again. I have a solution but I want to know what you think..."

"I think it's a great idea!" Kuki beamed.

"What? How do you know what I was gonna..."

"Come on! It was so obvious that you were gonna give her rainbow monkey to make her..."

"NO NUMBUH 3! NOT THAT!!!" Nigel yelled. Kuki hid behind Wally, making blush as read as a traffic light.

"What I mean is... I want her to..." Nigel whispered.

"You don't mean..." Hoagie began.

"Yes I do... I just said I did, didn't I?!"

"No you didn't!"

"Check the 5th line up."

"Oh. Oh okay."

Nigel tried again. "Before all those interruptions, I was going to say that I think she should come with us."

Everyone gasped. "You mean to.."

"Yes." Nigel replied. "I think Lara should start coming to school."

**

* * *

**

**Ooooooo...**

**I think it's starting to get good... if I say so myself... **

**The Disclaimer is something that really happened to me, except I was at High School Musical The Concert, and I was about to meet Ashley Tisdale... _then _I woke up. **

**Please review!**

**( and please say if your reply didn't work!)**

**Lollipop**

**:D**


	5. LARA GOES TO SCHOOL!

Numbuh 7 

by ME!!:)

**Hiya guys! Sorry I took so long to update :(. Thanks for your reviews! You're all fab:D **

**This chapter's pretty long, so make sure you're in a comfortable position!**

**On with the story...**

That night, Abby walked into Kuki's room to tell Lara about their decision. She saw Lara sitting on a couch, upside-down, with another 'Where's Waldo?" book. Abby could hear Kuki's singing voice coming from the bathroom, so she didn't have to worry about where she was.

"Lara?" she began, "What are you doing girl?"

She looked up from her book, and started to speak, " I almost always read like this. It's either that or have the book upside-down, which I haven't quite mastered yet, so this is easier." she replied.

Abby gave her an odd look. "Okay... listen. Numbuh 5's come to tell you something. We were all talking and we've decided it was time you started to..."

"Come to school with you so that we avoid another scare like the one you had this afternoon?" Lara asked with a small smile. Abby gasped.

"How d..d..id...d.. you know that?" she stuttered. "Do y'all have some kinda weird super-mind-reading powers in the future or summin?..."

Lara laughed. "Don't worry, Kuki told me. I don't have super powers! I'm really excited though, I've never been to a school before!"

"Glad to see your keen!..." Abby's voice trailed off. That wasn't the only reason she had come in here. She needed to know... about her and Hoagie... or Kuki and Wally... or Nigel and Bradley... Eww! That's just wrong! she thought .

"You know how you said you were an orphan..." the best way she could start this sort of conversation.

"I don't mind if we talk about it, I'm not at all sensitive when people talk about my parents. Unless they insult them. One kid told me that my parents were... something too rude for me to say in a K+ rated story, but I can tell you that he had to go through intensive surgery after what I did to him!"

Abby made a horrified face but laughed anyway, "Yeah, do you know anything about them?"

"Well," Lara moved out of her upside- down position, and put the book on the table, "I know that they were pretty young when they had me, about... 22 years old. They were a bit wealthy because of my mum's job."

"What was your mum's job?" Abby sat down next to Lara.

"I think she used to write books for small children. My dad was a soldier... so I've been told. He was driving with my mum to get to the place the soldiers go to get to other countries, or whatever they call it. They were in a hurry to get there, and someone in another car was driving the wrong way..."

"Oh. I'm so sorry. It must be awful to lose them that way." Abby put her hand on Lara's shoulder. " But how did you survive?"

"I wasn't in the car! I was at home with my baby-sitter, my now friend Mrs. Lincoln."

Abby put her hand over her mouth. "MY MOM!" she cried. "MRS. LINCOLN IS MY MOM!!!"

Lara open her mouth wide. "WOW! She is really nice to me, and told me all I know about my parents. But her memory is appalling now, and that's why she can't remember their names."

Abby's face fell. "Not even her own daughter's name perhaps?" she asked, thinking out loud.

"She can't remember my name half the time! She's also gotten into the habit of calling me Cree..."

Abby was about to tell her about her and Cree, when Kuki came out of the bathroom. "Hey Kuki!" Lara said with a wave.

"Hi guys!" Kuki said, wrapping a towel round her wet hair.

"I guess I should be going now. G'night guys!" Abby got off the sofa.

"Biya Abby!" Lara yelled.

"Biya?"

"If I can say hiya, why can't I say biya?"

Abby rolled her eyes and smiled. "Okay. Biya Lara! Biya Kuki!"

"G'night Abby!" They said as Abby walked out.

* * *

It had taken Abby and Kuki ages to find something for Lara to wear. They finally decided that she should wear one of her own 'vintage' red and black t-shirts, with a pair of Kuki's black leggings. All the way there, Lara had been jumping up and down like some mad lunatic!

"Clordone! I can't believe I'm going to school!!" she screamed, jumping up and down.

Kuki looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Clordone? What's that mean?"

"Oh, it's just a word in the future we use when we're excited. Like 'cool'." she explained.

"Okay." Kuki replied.

They all looked up and realised they were now at school. As soon as they had walked through the gates, Wally gasped.

"Oi think we've got a problem!" he said.

"What?" Hoagie asked. "What's the problem?"

"Lara can only come into school if she becomes a student. In order to become a student, she must complete an application exam in order to be placed on the waiting-list. If they can find a place, Lara can then become a student."

Everyone started blinking at him. "Wot? I listen..." Wally said, staring at his shoes.

"Numbuh 5 never thought she would say this, but Numbuh 4's right. Lara can't just march in and become part of our class! She's gotta complete an app..." Hoagie put his hand over her mouth.

"Sorry Abby, but I don't think we need to hear that again." he said.

"But how are we gonna get her into class? She can't just stay out here!!" Nigel yelled.

"Erm... hello?" Lara interrupted. " 'She' is still here and would prefer it if you called her by her REAL NAME!!!" she screamed those last two words so loudly, that Nigel's face turned white.

"All right... we will..." he returned to his usual self, "but that doesn't explain how we're gonna..."

Just then, their homeroom teacher, **(A/N Is that what they're called in America?)** Mr. Wells, came and asked, "Are you a new 4th grade pupil?"

"Um..." Lara was shocked by how tall he was. "... no, not exactly..."

Mr. Wells beamed "Well now you are! You can be in my class, same as Hoagie, Kuki and Wally. See ya!" and with that, he walked back into the building.

"That was a lucky coincidence..." Kuki said, staring in the direction the teacher had gone.

"Yeah..." everyone else, except Lara chorused.

The bell rang, and everyone rushed in to start their school day. On the way to their homeroom, Lara, Kuki and Wally were having a very interesting conversation about which rainbow monkey would make a good wrestler. Hoagie stayed quiet for most of the time. He was too busy thinking... about what he had heard Kuki and Abby talking about the other night...

Who were Lara's actual parents? he thought. She spoke like Wally and Nigel, looked like Abby, Kuki and himself, and her personality was a mix of all of their's which made it very tricky. And if he had heard them correctly, Lara's Numbuh was a mix of her parent's ones. If he was one of them, then the other had to be...

**I know some of you were probably expecting more, like what ****was gonna happen in lessons and stuff, but I swear on my iPod that I'm gonna do that in the next chapter! **

**In case I don't update before then, let me just wish y'all Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Eid Mubarak, Happy Kwanzaa and one heck of a new year:)**

**Please Review!**

**Lollipop**

**:D **


	6. Social Studies

Numbuh 7

by ME!!:)

**Disclaimer: I didn't get KND this year, so maybe I'll get lucky in 2008!... right?... right?...**

**I forgot the Disclaimer in the 5th chapter, but oh well!**

**Big hug for all my reviewers! I love you guys! (Friendly love, not the other one. Don't get freaked out! ) I think that last chapter was the worst one, but I _was _sick when I wrote it so...shrugs This chapter is a bit short, sorry.**

**On with the story...**

"Hey kids!" Mr. Wells waved as they walked into class. He moved over to the door and asked "What's your name again?"

"Lara. And I never told you my name, you just..."

Mr. Wells totally ignored her complaint. "Okay Lauren, I would like you to stay by my desk so I can give you a proper introduction. I've also got your locker combination on this piece of paper. You have used them before right?"

Lara waved her hand and laughed, "Of course I've used lockers! I use lockers all the time! I love lockers, yes siree! They call me 'Locker girl' where I came from, yeah..." she quickly brought her mouth up to Wally's ear and asked in a low voice "What's a locker?"

* * *

As the last group of students had taken their seats, Mr. Wells stood up in front of the class and started to introduce his new student. 

"Right guys, as a few of you already know we have a new girl joining our class. Her name is Louise..."

"Lara." she corrected angrily.

"Sorry Lucy." he said.

Lara rolled her eyes.

Mr. Wells started again, "Some of you probably already know Lindsay and the part of the class who do can show her around. But I would like to pair her up with a member of the class who doesn't so she can make some new friends. Would anyone like to volunteer?"

* * *

At the back of classroom Fanny, aka. Numbuh 86, had started to argue with the boy a few desks away. 

"This is the last time I'm gonna tell ya Billy... girls rule, have always ruled, and will continue to do so until THE END OF TIME!!!" she yelled/whispered.

"Okay... but does this mean that I can't borrow a pencil?" the boy asked scratching his head.

Fanny raised her hand right up to whack him across the head when suddenly Mr. Wells said, "Francine! Glad to see you're so eager to help our new student!" He then turned to Lara. "Go and take the seat next to her Lucille."

Lara gave him the evil eye and stuck her tongue out. The rest of the class laughed at that as she walked to her seat.

"Oh. Hello." Fanny said, annoyed.

" Nice to meet you too." Lara replied half meaning it.

* * *

The first class was Social Studies. Their teacher, Mrs. Hersey, was a bit... oh what's the word? Ah yes, 'hippyish'. 

She had them all sit in a circle on a big carpet with all their books behind them. Kuki, Wally, Hoagie, Lara and Fanny all sat round in that order. Mrs. Hersey took her seat on a little pink cushion and started her lesson.

"All right dudes and dudettes, these past few weeks we have been learning about stuff that is bad karma... today, we're gonna learn about sexism's effect on the Learning and Socializing centre..."

"Huh?" Lara whispered to Fanny.

"It's what she calls the school." she answered in her Irish accent.

_God! _Lara thought. _Numbuh 263 was right! Their language is very different from ours! At least I think he did... it's sometimes hard to concentrate on what he's saying sometimes...I get lost in those gorgeous brown eyes of his... if only he would ask me out, then we could finally..._

Hoagie's voice brought her back to reality, " Hey, I find it incredible that this woman is a **Mrs.!**"

She smiled and looked in her teacher's direction. Mrs. Hersey was now playing the chorus of " This Is The Night" by Clay Aiken on a small guitar. When she stopped singing, she stood up and began to speak.

" All right guys..."

"AND GALS!" Fanny and Lara shouted simultaneously. They looked at each other oddly.

"Okay... well, this is what I'm trying to talk about. Recently, there have been a lot of protests about men considering themselves stronger than women."

"And it's true Miss." Everyone's heads turned to the direction of the voice. "Men are stronger, smarter and more efficient than women." Patton said.

Fanny's face went red with anger. " Why I ought a...LEMME AT HIM!!"

Patton rolled his eyes. " If you think women are stronger than men, then prove it." He folded his arms and smirked. "We'll have an arm wrestling contest. You can go against me. Whoever wins will show which is the stronger sex."

" Erm... I'm not really one for arm wrestling..." she blushed nervously.

Patton laughed along with most of the boys. " You are such a hypocrite. Forget about the contest because you've shown me that we don't need one!"

The red head turned her back on him and hunched her back. Normally she would have strangled him to death, but Fanny just wasn't herself when Patton was talking to her.

"I'll arm wrestle you." Lara yelled. Patton stopped laughing and the rest of the class went silent. "With one hand behind my back." she added.

Patton gave Lara a death glare and said, " Okay, fine. I accept."

Gasps drowned out the sound of Fanny shouting "Lara, are you mad?? Patton is the strongest guy in the entire class! Last week, he broke four of his teeth by sticking his tongue out!!!

To which Lara screamed, "OH SURE! _NOW_ YOU TELL ME!"

**Sorry to leave you guys hanging there, but I have got sooo much homework this week, I might not be able to update for a while...**

**Any who, I'd like to thank everyone who as reviewed so far. I can't believe that this story has had 938 HITS AND COUNTING!!! ****Yay!! And you guys, the readers, are what make all that possible. Thank you, and God Bless. ( That sentence was quite possibly the most serious thing I've written in a while...)**

**Happy New Year, and Happy Islamic New Year:)**

**Lollipop O-**


	7. The War of the Sexes!

* * *

Numbuh 7 

By ME:)

**Disclaimer: I am too depressed about it leaving to say that I will never have a chance to own it again... :(**

**Hi there! Thanks to all of you who reviewed! Can you really believe that's it's been 5 years since we first started watching this amazing show? I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S ALL OVER! WAHHHHH:'( so sad!... or was it 6 years?...**

**On with the story...**

Patton put his right elbow on a wooden stool and an evil look spread across his face. A hush went over the crowd as his opponent did the same. They looked each other in the eye, waiting for the referee (well, Hoagie) to tell them to begin.

The boys that had ganged up around Patton were whispering words of encouragement in his ears. The girls (and a few of the boys...) on Lara's side of the room had started sweating buckets! They were very worried of what was to become of there new classmate, and whether or not she would like the cake they had picked out for her funeral buffet.

"Okay you two..." Hoagie boomed. "Arms ready?"

They nodded.

"Arms steady?"

They nodded again.

"All right then... ARMS G..."

"Wait!" Lara squealed. "I have a better idea. Instead of you saying when, let's start as soon as that snake out the window slides up the tree." She pointed to the window at the back of the room.

"SNAKE?! What snake?" Patton turned his head around to get a better view.

Without warning, Lara gripped his hand tight and pushed his arm down in the blink of an eye.

Patton quickly realized that he had been duped. "HEY! I wasn't ready!" he yelled.

"Well I suppose this proves which of us is more gullible!" Lara stuck her tongue out at him.

"I am not gullible! I am like the exact opposite of the definition of gullible!"

"Fine then! Get a dictionary and we'll see if it describes you... but you won't be able to find it, they took 'gullible' out of them all a few weeks ago."

Patton ran to a locked cabinet where Mrs. Hersey kept the dictionaries. (She believed everything did not need a meaning, but due to her forgetfulness, the key was still in the door.)

Fanny smirked. " Classic." Lara hi-fived her.

* * *

The bell rang for first break. As the children ran out of class, Lara walked slowly behind, gazing wondrously at every inch of this new environment. It all seemed so amazing, so thrilling, she was very surprised to think that the present members of Sector V hated it so much. 

Lara looked round and saw that she was the only person there. That was funny. She could hear someone else breathing behind her... a quick glance over her shoulder was all it took for her to realize who it was.

"You..." she hissed.

**Okay. I really didn't want to leave there, mostly because it took me so long to update, and also because this was way too short!! But if I made it longer then that would ruin the "you" thing. Sorry :(**

**On a lighter note, Happy (late) Australia day! **

**Lollipop**

**O-**

**P.S. I refuse to update until Numbuh 7, Chapter 7 , gets 7 reviews!**


	8. YOU!

Numbuh 7

By ME!!:)

**Disclaimer: Still in depression... don't want to admit it...**

**Hello! I don't like leaving people on cliffhangers, I really don't , **

**so I'm sorry about not updating... please forgive me! :o3**

**Oh, and by the way, Numbuh 74.239 is called "Todd" here because I never found out his real name. :)**

**On with the story...**

"You..." she hissed. Her eyes widened as she declared, "_YOU'RE THAT BOY THAT WAS HURLING SPIT BALLS AT ME IN SPANISH CLASS!!" _

The boy in question was adjusting his sunglasses so they sat right on top of his spiky red and orange hair. "You must be thinking of someone else." he straightened out his zip-up pilot jacket, "'Cause I would never even dream of doing anything like that to someone as beautiful as you..."

Lara brightened up a little as her cheeks reddened, "You think so? That's so sweet of you!" She quickly came back to Earth and yelled " BUT THOSE SPIT BALLS RUINED MY HA...ng on a second... you seem incredibly familiar... I've seen you once before..."

"What are you talking about? I don't even know you..." the boy answered.

"I suppose you're right. Probably just deja vu or something... what's your name?" she asked.

"You can call me whatever you want, babe."

* * *

First break. A time to visit your locker, a time to catch up with friends and a time to steal someone else's homework because you didn't do yours...

"Gimme that back Numbuh 4!" Numbuh 74.239 aka. Todd shouted, jumping up and down.

Wally was standing on top of one of the cafeteria's tables to make himself higher. His right hand was clutching a piece of paper, Todd's Science homework, and his left was being used to pull faces.

"No way. I didn't do it last night, so I'm gonna use yours!" Wally exclaimed. " I just gotta change it a little 'cause yours ain't _smartical_ enough..."

The others sitting at the table, Abby, Kuki, Hoagie and Nigel, decided not to correct the Aussie's mistake, and instead continued to debate whether the green slop on their plates was actually mushy peas or 3-year-old fried chicken.

But all the table's occupants suddenly fell silent when they looked towards the door. For there, walking down hand in hand, were Lara and...

"THE KID??" Hoagie yelled. "What's he doing holding Lara's hand?"

Lara answered that as soon as they both came over. "Hiya! I just came to introduce you to my..." a lovesick smile spread across her face, "_...boyfriend..." _

"WHAT?!" Abby screamed. "Girl, you ain't been here three classes, and you're already in love?"

"Yeah." the Kid began to speak. " We met in the hall after Spanish class. Everything just went uphill from there."

Both Abby and Kuki seemed disappointed with this news. The Kid had been flirting with them all term, and they had both started to develop crushes on him. It made them feel good to think that at least _someone _thought they were pretty...

The warning bell sounded. The students all got up and made their way to their classes, not wanting to be late.

Hoagie made Wally give Todd back his homework, for he remembered his own experience with taking a nerd's belongings... never again dude, never again...

"See ya guys at science!" Lara waved goodbye. "And thanks again for letting me come! I've had a clor.. I mean, '_cool_' day!"

Then she, along with everyone else, walked out the cafeteria door.

**I've actually almost finished the next chapter too now, so there won't be as much of a wait! YAY!! :D**

**I've not really got much to say right now... except Happy Belated Easter!**

**O- Lollipop**


	9. Time to fess up

Numbuh 7

by ME!!:)

**Disclaimer: Do I LOOK like Mr. Warburton?? Okay, don't answer that...**

**Hiya! I've been on holiday for a few days, but I'm back now! And I'm full of new story ideas, so watch this space! **

**--**

**Okay, you can stop watching the space now. :) ****Oh! And later on in the chappie, **_this _**is Hoagie, and **this **is Wally. **

**On with the story...**

Wally never was any good at Maths. Weird as it may sound, it was one of his favourite subjects. He just wasn't very good at it. It also didn't help that Kuki, his 'secret' crush, sat right in front of him.

Occasionally, he would reach out and try and stroke her beautiful black hair. But she seemed sad right now, and her hair had lost its shine.

Maybe it had something to do with what happened at first break... yes, that must have been it. She and Abby must have liked the Kid, and got all jealous when he walked in with Lara.

Speaking of Lara, he and Hoagie had been talking about her while they were walking to the cafeteria earlier. They talked about how she missed her graduation, and someone else had to pick a Numbuh for her.

But what numbers totaled seven? Chicken and ninefourteensix made eight... that was too small...but what had Hoagie said added up it?...

He had mentioned Wally's own Numbuh, 4, and someone else's too... it was... um... oh yeah! It was 3.

Wait a minute! 3 and 4! Her and him! Kuki and Wally! God, he thought, thinking all these exclamation marks is giving me a headache...

But... if they were Lara's parents, then that meant that he was going to.. . Wally shuddered. It was too much to think about now.

So with that joyful yet horrifying thought, Wally picked up his pencil, and finally began to get some work done.

* * *

"That... that was the most clordone place ever!" Lara said when they got back to the tree house. They were currently in the elevator thingy, waiting to reach the level with their bedrooms.

"But one thing I don't get..." she continued, "... if teachers are supposed to be so smart, why do they always ask you for the answers?"

Hoagie shrugged. "That is one of life's many unanswerable questions... not even the world's smartest being could tell you why..."

"Numbuh 2! So now _you're _eating my fortune cookies?" Kuki interrogated. "I have seriously got to find a better hiding spot for those things..." Her voice trailed off as she went back to being sad.

She and Abby had been like that for most of the day. It was depressing to see them both like this, so upset and lonesome...

The elevator doors opened, and the team walked out.

"Abby's going to her room." she said, staring at the floor.

"Me too." Kuki mumbled.

The two female operatives did just that, and left Lara asking the others what the matter was with them.

"They're upset." Wally answered, throwing his schoolbag onto the table.

Lara frowned. "What about?"

"Erm...you were there at first break, weren't you?"

"Well of course I was! I was there with you guys and..." she stopped. A look of realisation spread across her face. "Oh no! They can't possibly be jealous about-"

"-about you and the Kid?" Hoagie interrupted. "No duh they are!" Lara could of sworn he then mumbled something about him 'not being surprised if Wally was her father'.

"That being the case, they are not the only ones..."

"Not the only ones? What's that supposed to mean?" Wally enquired.

Realising he did not have a part in this conversation, Nigel got up and went to his room. This did not however, stop him from eavesdropping, which he did.

"It's just...you both seem to be _jealous_ of them being jealous." Lara seemed puzzled with this, until grinned broadly. "There isn't something you've been _keeping _from them... is there?"

The boys both turned a light pink glow and very quickly denied any feelings, besides friendship, that they had for their female teammates.

"Is that so?" she asked with an air of trickery. "Because I heard a rumour or two, saying that Kuki liked you Wally, and that Abby felt the same way about Hoagie..."

This made the pair jump up in surprise, only to be let down by the sound of the girl's laughter.

"Oh my god! Maybe it's not just Patton who needs to learn to be less gullible! HA HA!!"

"Very funny Lara..."

Once she had gotten bored of laughing, Lara put on a straight face again. "But seriously guys, I honestly think that that's how they feel about you."

"How do you know?" Hoagie asked.

Lara thought back to the conversations she had had. "Well, the first day I was here, I told Numbuh 3 how I got my 'numbuh'. She looked very pleased, and I think she must have worked out that to make 7 from 3, you needed to add on..."

"4." Wally butted in, getting the answer right for once.

"And last night, when I was talking to Abby about how my parents... you know... I said that her mom was one of their friends, but couldn't remember their names. Abby then asked if she even had trouble remembering her own daughter's name. This means that she also figured out that to make 7 from 5, you need..."

"2." Hoagie finished for her. " But how can we be sure that they feel the same way about us?"

"There's only one way to find out." Lara pointed to the girl's bedrooms.

Wally and Hoagie automatically turned red. "Oh no! No way! You can't make us do that! Nuh uh!"

"Aw, guys, why not?" she asked, disappointedly.

"Because... because..." they looked at each other and sighed. "...because I don't know how to tell her."

"Look, if she likes you, then it won't matter how you tell her."

They took a deep breath in. "I suppose you're right... wait a minute! _If _she likes me??"

But before either of them could argue, Lara had pushed them both into the bedrooms.

* * *

Kuki lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. So much had happened in such a short space of time, it was hard to believe.

First a girl appears out of nowhere, claiming to be someone's daughter from the future, then she ends up living with them, and finally she starts dating the boy Kuki had a crush on!

Well, she didn't have the same feelings for him that she had for Wally, but they were feelings nonetheless.

A noise disrupted her thoughts. Kuki sat up looked towards the curtain where a door should have been. Wally had walked in, and he looked very nervous...

* * *

_Abby never had been a sucker for romance. It wasn't her style. People always expected her to be a tough tomboy without any of those sort of feelings. And they were right about that... just not today._

_The thing was, she didn't feel as upset as she showed about the whole situation. Sure, she liked the Kid, and felt a twinge of jealousy when Lara walked in with him, but he was more of a hormonal sort of crush, unlike the one she had developed on someone else..._

_In an attempt to cheer herself up, Abby picked up her iPod and started to listen to some music. She had the volume up so loud, she almost didn't hear a certain boy enter the room._

* * *

"Erm... hi..." he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

She stood up and walked over to him. "What are you doing in here?" she asked, staring at the floor.

_He gulped. This wasn't gonna be easy._

"_I have to tell you something."_

_She raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What?" _

"That... you shouldn't be so upset about the Kid not liking you."

Forced laughter. "I'm not upset! I'm just..."

He cut her off. "Please don't pretend about your feelings. I've done it loads of times, and it's too exhausting!"

_She smiled slightly at this. "But I don't get it. Why did you have to come and tell me this?" _

"_Well... it's just that... I know..." he sighed. "I guess what I'm trying to say, is that the Kid doesn't matter, there's always gonna be someone out there who likes you in that way."_

"_Pfft! That's the stupidest thing ever!" she grumbled._

"It's the truth!"

"Yeah right."

"I'm serious! There is someone who likes, no, loves you, and he says that it's only at matter of time before you realise."

"_Well if this 'guy' likes me so much, then why doesn't he just tell me?" she snapped back._

"_He just did."_

She seemed surprised. "What?"

He took her hand and looked right into her eyes. "I love you."

Like he said, pretending about your feelings was too exhausting.

**I know I promised a quick update, but stupid school got in the way! Well, it's up here now, and I suppose that's what really matters. :)**

**I've run out of public holidays, so I guess I'll just wish Paulagirl Happy Early Birthday! :D**

**Please review!**

**O- Lollipop**


	10. Something More Interesting, Like Naomi

Numbuh 7

by Me! :)

**Disclaimer: The author of this work does not own KND, and enjoys talking about herself in the third person.**

**Author's Note: I'm _baaack_! Sorry, I just needed to take a little break from writing fanfics because I needed to get a few things settled. Oh, and you may notice a slight change in my writing style. A good one hopefully. :) Enjoy!**

**On with the story (finally)...**

* * *

Nigel came out of his room and let out a small giggle. If that sentence didn't seem weird to you, then you better read it again. Being the leader of Sector V, Nigel would snicker, chuckle, and possibly even guffaw, but never would he have even _dreamed_ of giggling. Until just now.

This strange behaviour made Lara look at him quizzically. She asked what he had found so funny. And she said she wanted to know what kind of a laugh that was.

_'One, two of my best friends have just confessed their undying love for two completely unsuspecting girls, and two, it was a giggle. If I'd done a louder kind of laugh, they would know that I'm listening!'_

"Nothing."

Lara rolled her eyes. "Of course. I must have just _imagined_ that giggle then."

Nigel could feel his ears slowly turn crimson. Thankfully, she didn't seem to notice.

"I think they may be in there for a while," he blurted out in an attempt to change the subject.

"Ew! May I remind you that this is a **K PLUS RATED STORY**Nigel Uno! I will _not _tolerate anything suggestive like that, thank you very m-,"

"Quiet!" he yelled slash whispered, putting his hand over her mouth. "They'll hear you!"

They both stared at the two doors, waiting for someone to come out and tell them off for eavesdropping. No one ever did.

After removing his hand, Nigel continued; "You know very well that that's not what I meant! Anyway, I was saying that I think they may be in there a while, DOING K PLUS RATED THINGS..." he paused to give Lara a hard stare. " And I think that it would be best if we got started on repairing your time machine. Does the rental company's insurance cover exploding engines?"

"The what?"

He sighed. "Whatever, let's just get started with the repairs. Numbuh 5 mentioned that you were the 2x4 Technology expert for your sector, so this is probably going to be pretty easy for you, am I right?"

Lara had always been incredibly eager to defend her skills as a mechanic slash scientist. "Pfft! Easy? This'll be a piece of pudding for someone at my level of expertise!"

" 'Piece of pudding'?"

"Isn't that what you guys say when you think something isn't going to involve much hard work?"

"Um, no actually. We say-" Nigel then remembered that that they had work to do. "Never mind. I'll give you an English lesson later."

They both walked over to the battered looking time machine which had now been pushed into the corner of the room. Lara helped him to drag it into Hoagie's bedroom so they would have access to plenty of tools.

"Hmm..." a look of deep concentration spread across her face as she began to examine. "Do you have a skateboard I can use?"

"What? You mean one for you to use to slide around while you're working underneath the car?"

She rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, I don't _really _need it, but it makes me look clordone!"

Nigel put his head in one hand and mumbled something that sounded like, "Just get to work."

Lara raised her hands in an 'I surrender' gesture and passed a toolbox she had found on Hoagie's desk to Nigel. She then lay on her back and began to analyze the bottom of her time machine.

"Actually, the engine doesn't seem to be as damaged as I thought. I'm not likely to need a new one at all, I think." she claimed.

He seemed slightly surprised with this piece of information."So this shouldn't take too long?"

"Don't think so."

"Great."

* * *

A few minutes went by. During this time, Nigel just sat on his stool next to the machine, passing Lara all the tools she asked for. Feeling pretty bored, he decided to start a conversation.

"So..." he began. "How are things with you and the Kid?"

Nigel heard the sound of a bolt being tightened before she replied, "Non-existent."

For some strange reason, Nigel felt a wave of relief rush through his body. He couldn't think why though. Perhaps he lov- no! Absolutely ridiculous! There was _no way in heck _that he felt that way about Lara!... but then again, this wasn't heck.

"What do you mean by 'non-existent' exactly?" he queried, begging to know more about a now potential 'rival'.

"Well," Lara started to say. "When we first met, the Kid was awesome..."

Nigel's heart sank.

"...or so I thought."

It floated back up again.

"He was flirting with other girls while we walked to the cafeteria! He also had the _nerve _to give someone his number when he thought I wasn't looking! Can you believe that?! Screwdriver please."

Nigel looked through the toolbox for a screwdriver then handed it to Lara.

"Thank _youuu..."_

Lara didn't love the Kid? The very thought of that started to send a million questions racing through Nigel's brain.

_Then what was all that business during first break?_

_Did you break up with him?_

_Do you love me?_

_Is 2Pac still alive somewhere?_

He decided to ask the most obvious one.

"Is 2Pa- um.... I mean... you know, if that's the case, then what was all that business during first break?

"I figured that if I _pretended _to be going out with the Kid, then I could get Kuki and Abby to be jealous. I would then persuade Wally and Hoagie to confess their feelings, and _voila! _We'd have my two sets of possible parents already matched up!"

"Clever."

"I know. Spanner, please."

Nigel gave her the tool she required. He started to slowly swing his legs back and forth while he silently toyed with the idea of asking another question. After a little pause, he finally decided on _'Did you break up with him?'_

"Did you break up with him?"

"Of course I did! He turned out to be one of the worst people I've ever met, for crying out loud! _Very_unclordonic."

A 'I'm-feeling-a-bit-pleased-with-myself' sort of smile burst across his face. He noticed a small screw lying on the floor, and began to kick it around. It was a less crazy way of pointing at it and yelling, "See! I told you, you stupid screw!"

"Besides," Lara continued. "He was _definitely _not my type."

He froze. Lara had a type? The feeling of being pleased with himself was gone, and worry that he didn't qualify as 'Lara's type' was in its place.

"_Ha! Who's laughing now, you stupid kid!" _the screw seemed to be saying.

In anger, Nigel kicked the screw so hard, it flew across the room. How dare that piece of metal call him stupid! It should have known better than to mess with the Leader of Sector V of the Kids Next Door!

As Nigel tried to regain his sanity, he cleared his throat to speak.

"You have a type? What sort of type?"

"I tend to go for a guy that's honest, caring and funny. Someone that's the exact opposite of a 'macho man' like the Kid."

He gulped. "Define 'macho man'."

"A macho man is basically a guy that treats girls like they're not human beings. He treats them like they're just there for him to show off his 'manliness' and to impress. When really, girls are often impressed by the type of guy that isn't afraid to _giggle _in front of them."

And even though he couldn't see her, Nigel could tell by the way she had said the sixteenth word in that sentence, that Lara had winked. His ears went a deep red for the second time that day. Again, she didn't see.

The door to the room opened without warning. Nigel looked up to see two very happy looking couples standing in the doorway. Hoagie had his arm tightly wrapped around Abby's waist, and her right hand was draped over his shoulder. They were both smiling and gazing into each other's eyes, just like young lovers should.

Kuki and Wally looked as if they had just stepped out of a certain vampire romance novel that the author of this story happens to love. He had a slightly dopey look on his face, not to mention plenty of lipstick marks. His new girlfriend was even more cheery than usual, if that was possible. She had Wally in a back-crushing bear hug, the kind he normally would have objected to. Not anymore.

Lara stuck her head out from underneath the machine and grinned. "Well, well, well! What do we say to 'Cupid's Little Helper', boys?"

"Thanks." Wally smiled. "You've made us all the happiest kids on the planet!"

"Your welcome. But I didn't do anything really, it was all you."

Nigel tried to stifle back his laughter. If only Wally knew how much of a lie that was.

"I see you've got the time machine in Lara..." Hoagie pointed out. "And in MY ROOM as well. Why is that?"

Lara got up onto her feet, and brushed some dirt off of the front of her shirt. "It was Numbuh 1's idea. He thought that while you in your room not doing anything not-K-plus-rated, that it would be a good time for me to work on fixing the time machine. I'm actually done, I think. All that's left is for me to test it out..."

She felt around in her skirt pocket, looking for the keys. "Hmm... where could those keys be? Are these they? Nope. Err... I know I left it next to my chili-do- oh hey Elvis! Umm... AHA! Found them!" She pulled out a pair of keys attached to a spiky, light- up ball.

"Gather 'round! I'm gonna try and start this baby up!" Lara declared, stepping into the driver's side of the time machine slash purple Mini Cooper. Once in, she rolled down the windows so that the other operatives could listen to her while she tried to start the engine.

Nigel, Wally and Kuki leaned in on Lara's side, while Abby and Hoagie stood on the passenger's side. They heard Lara murmur a prayer, before she put the key in the ignition. No one breathed. Lara got a firm grip on the key, and slowly turned it right...

They all gave a huge sigh of relief when they heard the engine roar to life. Strange as it may sound, the present day members of Sector V had never seen a real time machine in action before, (Must have been something to do with the fact that they still hadn't been invented yet.) so they were surprised to see an array of lights flashing next to what they assumed must have been the steering wheel. To they're annoyance, Lara seemed to know exactly what to do with them all.

"You know what?" Lara asked, completely out of the blue. "I think it would be best if I went away for a little while."

Nigel gasped. "W-w-whatever for?!" he stammered, seemingly oblivious to the weird looks he was getting from his teammates.

"Just to see if everything in the machine still works. I should be back soon though, I won't go too far in time."

"But...but... I just got used to you being here!"

"Like I said, I should be back soon. Relax, it'll be fi- hello... what's this?"

The screen that was used to control the radio had a string of words going around in a loop on it.

_'Incoming video call from Numbuh 263,'_ it said. _'Would you like to accept the call?'_

A little green button with the word _'YES' _engraved began to flash. Lara pressed it, and the face of her Supreme Leader appeared.

"LARA!!! YOU'RE ALIVE!!! Oh my god, I can't wait to see the look on Numbuh 666's face when I tell him- oh. Umm... excuse me. Good afternoon, Numbuh 7." he said, saying the last four words in a military-like fashion. "It _is _the afternoon in the past, isn't it?"

Lara gave him a quick salute. "Yes sir, indeed it is."

Numbuh 263 looked fairly pleased with himself. "Good. Never doubted that for a second. Anyway, I've been trying to make contact with you for over 2 days now! Where have you been?"

"Sorry sir, but the time machine's engine burst and the whole communication system was busted too."

"I see. Well then, who are those people standing around you?" Numbuh 263's eyes widened with shock, "They're not _teenagers_, are they??"

Lara laughed. "No sir, of course not. These are Numbuhs 1 to 5 of the old Sector V. Guys, say hello to my Supreme Leader, Numbuh 263."

"Hey, sir."

"Close enough." Lara turned back to face the screen. "Why did you need to contact me, sir? If you don't mind me asking that is."

"Not at all. Actually, I was hoping you were going to ask that..." his voice trailed off then.

"Is there something the matter sir?"

"Umm... not particularly..."

"Sir..." Lara added a stern edge to her voice.

Numbuh 263 sighed. "During the time we were out of contact, I decided that it would be a good idea for me to do what I could to look through my Soopah Secret Files for some more information about your parents, and their death-"

"And you decide to do this _after _I set off on my life-threatening time travel quest?! My god, how _thick_can you ge-" Remembering who she was talking to, Lara stopped and said, "Err... I mean, carry on sir."

"Very well." he said, giving Lara a cold stare. "As I was looking through some files, I found some rather interesting things... take this for example;" There was a pause as Numbuh 263 appeared to be going through some papers on his desk. They waited until he held up an incomplete looking picture book.

"This," he began. "is a book your mother was known to be working on before that tragic April night. It was called, _'Marshmallow, The Dolphin Princess' _and was set to be an international bestseller."

Wally sniggered at the book's title until Lara gave him a 'Shut- up,- or- that- pink- Rainbow- Monkey- you've- got- hidden- under- your- pillow- gets- it' sort of look.

"As I was saying, this book was set to be an international bestseller, and therefore it needed to go through a lot of editing before it was put on the shelves. This particular copy of the book had been sent to your mother's editor with a note."

"So what..." Lara said disapprovingly. She then decided it was best to add;"...sir?" to end, just to be safe.

"Well, there's good news and bad news about this... the bad news is that your mother's handwriting is the worst I've ever seen, and no one here can read it."

Hoagie scoffed. "He's obviously never seen your handwriting, Numbuh 4. If you can call it that..."

Kuki and Abby laughed quietly as they watched Wally go red with anger. "Oh yeah? Well...your face is my handwriting!"

"Shh, you lot!" Lara raised a finger to her lips. "What's the good news sir?"

Numbuh 263 grinned broadly. "The good news is, that it's signed and dated by your mother. Even though we're not sure which day it's dated, there are clearly two digits in the date. However, the day of the accident was on April 9th 2019. This means that its impossible for this to have been sent any time before the accident occurred. Therefore..."

"But... it doesn't necessarily mean that she's still alive." Lara interrupted. "I mean... you know... someone might have... I don't know... forged the signature or something..."

Judging by the look on Numbuh 263's face, this wasn't quite the reaction he was hoping for. Nevertheless, he continued. "That's quite true. And also the reason why we hacked into the Emergency Services databases to search for any road accidents that occurred on that da-"

"Were there any?" she asked solemnly.

"I'll tell you if you let me fin-"

"I SAID, WERE THERE ANY?"

The present day members of Sector V took a few steps away from the machine, afraid of anything Lara might do in the spur of the moment.

Numbuh 263 bit his lip anxiously. "No."

"And the book- does it have her name on it?"

"Do you mean your moth-"

"YOU FLIPPING WELL KNOW WHOSE NAME I MEAN!" Lara screamed, hot tears of anger streaming down her face.

"No. It doesn't. The front cover hadn't been designed yet."

Lara tried to calm her voice down a little, but it still had that angry tone. "I see. And you can't read her signature either, because of her handwriting."

He nodded.

"I understand. Goodbye."

"Wait, what are yo-"

But she had already turned off the engine. Lara gripped the steering wheel firmly, rested her forehead against it and just burst into tears. These were not the fiery tears she had just used a few seconds ago, but tears of confusion, sadness and possibly even heartbreak.

"Lara..." Nigel tried to speak after her crying had quietened slightly. "...are you feeling any better?"

She let a loud sniff escape her nose before replying. " I don't know. I really don't know anymore.

"Everything I've ever known about my parents has been a lie. Everyone that's ever known the truth about them is a liar. Mrs Drilovsky at the orphanage? Liar. Mrs Lincoln next-door? Liar. My so-called 'Supreme Leader'? Liar! They all are! I'll bet Lara isn't even my real name. Yeah. It's probably something more interesting, like 'Naomi' or 'Skye'.

"And you know what else? Chances are I'm not even human! I might be this alien princess, and my parents might have been bent on world domination or something, except I'll never know because... because..." Lara stopped her ranting and started crying instead. Her steering wheel was covered with water, making it very hard for her to hold her grip.

"Lara. Stop crying." Nigel said in a soothing voice. "You need to calm down and think carefully about the situation you are in. Maybe the people that you were talking about were all telling the truth as they knew it? Maybe someone lied to _them. _Maybe there's only _one _person you need to blame instead of one hundred."

The crying had reduced to noisy sniffling as she raised her head. "Alright."

Nigel smiled without showing any teeth. "Now Lara, is there anyone you know that may have wanted you thinking that your parents were dead?"

Lara thought. She started flicking through her memories as she would a photo album. _Moving to the orphanage, making her first friend, learning to ride a bike, her fourth birthday party... _she stopped. Her eyes widened. She knew who she needed to find.

Lara dried her eyes and the steering wheel. Grasping both sides of the wheel she announced, "Get in. We're all going for a little ride..."

* * *

**I haven't had any writing inspiration until about two days ago. _It's a Christmas miracle! _:P**

**Happy Holidays, and please review. **

**O- Lollipop**


	11. We Need To Talk

Numbuh 7

by Me!:)

**Claimer: I own KND. Yes, really. It was finalised this morning. **

**Author's Note: Hey! Hopefully you guys have all had an awesome 4-and-a-bit months without me and the ending to that cliffy. Apparently I've improved, so I'm feeling pretty chuffed about that. :P **

**Just as a bit of harmless self-advertising, I'm letting you guys know that I also post original stuff on . I'm Pretty Princess Lollipop34 there as well for those of you that actually want to check it out. **

**Anyways, less speaky, more story...**

* * *

_He's gone to see her today. For the first time in about two and a half years. He's been looking forward to it ever since the day I let my heart get the best of me and said he could. She was more comfortable with him than she was with 'you-know-who', so I'm sure she'd love to see him just as much. While part of me knows it would kill him if I told him he shouldn't, I feel incredibly worried. For him, for me and most importantly... for her._

_Don't get me wrong, I'd love to go see her. I'd love to hold her in my arms and tell her exactly how much she's been missed. Then I'd lower her down and gently take her tiny hand in mine as the three of us walked home. This is exactly how I picture our reunion. It's what helps me get to sleep at night. But when I open my eyes the next morning, the bubble bursts as I realise this can never be. _

_I'm not allowed._

_There'd be trouble if I ever tried. Neighbours would talk. Rumours would spread. And knowing the big mouths everyone has around here, the police would want to have words with me in a matter of hours. They'd take her away. I couldn't bear for that to happen. _

_Not again._

* * *

***

No one spoke. After a quick nod from their leader told them it was okay, the four other operatives sat in the time machine. Unlike the version they were used to, Lara's modified Mini Cooper (with rockets) had a back seat big enough for four of them. Nigel, completely frightened of anything Lara might do in a spur of frustration, was unlucky enough to be left with the passenger seat.

A key was placed in the ignition and turned to the left with a firm grip. The engine purred softly as a series of buttons on the dashboard were pressed. A woman's voice asked for the time they wanted to travel to.

"January 15th , 2036, 2:30 pm, Drilovsky's Care Home." Lara snapped back.

"Affirmative," the woman's voice replied. "Setting course for-"

"January. Fifteen. Twenty. Thirty. Six. Two. Thirty. P.M. Drilovsky's. Care. Home."

After a robotic sounding male voice had repeated back the destination, the time machine started to vibrate. Lara didn't start flipping out, so everyone just assumed that this was supposed to happen. Being behind the wheel again felt great. It gave Lara a sense of freedom that she currently lacked. Like she had the power to decide exactly where she was going to go.

Then, faster than you could say, "Super Speedy Rainbow Monkeys", everything went black.

* * *

***

* * *

_She doesn't know that he's going to see her. He says that she'll enjoy it more if it's a surprise. She probably gets that from me I guess._

_I've always loved surprises, and he's always loved to give them. I still remember the day he gave me one of the biggest surprises of all as if it were yesterday..._

_The two of us had been having a bit of a row. I don't think I could tell you for the life of me what it was about, but it was probably something ridiculous, like me finding his 'secret' Rainbow Monkey collection or something. I was sitting cross-legged on my bed, with my head in my hands. It was lucky that I had taken my little angel to stay with her grandmother for a day, because I wouldn't have wanted her to have seen me like this. _

_My mobile phone buzzed. I had received a text from him, " _Meet me park 7:30. We need 2 tlk."

_Oh, God. I checked the clock on my phone. 6:45pm. The park wasn't too far away, so I had just about enough time to put on some make-up and do my hair. I walked through the door at 7:10. Fearing the worst, I made my slow walk to the park._

_I didn't see him at first. It was dark outside already, and my eyesight isn't what it once was. After a few minutes, I managed to spot him on a bench. He seemed to have noticed me too, so I gave a friendly wave as I made my way over to him._

_He looked nervous, as if he was deciding whether to break up with me gently, or to just dump me on the spot. I'm not sure which I thought he was more likely to do, but I definitely didn't expect him to say;_

"_Come walk with me."_

_A little puzzled, I obliged. He had his hands stuffed in his jacket pockets, and was gazing up at the sky as we walked. I wondered if he was taking me somewhere perhaps. Or if this was just walking for fun. At the moment, it felt anything but._

_Suddenly, he stopped. He smiled and held out his hand for me to hold. I grasped it in mine, and then he started to pull me towards the children's playground. What was he doing? We were in our early twenties! We didn't go to these kind of places anymore!_

"_You'll see dear, you'll see." he murmured softly._

_Dang. I must've said all that out loud._

_As I looked around, I realised that there were areas I recognised. I'd probably played here when I was a kid, but for some reason, my life before I turned thirteen seems like a big blur._

_We came to the swings. Ah, yes! I remembered these very well. The two of us had first laid eyes on each other here when we were about thirteen or fourteen. When we'd met, we both felt like we'd known each other for years. About a year later, we'd shared our first kiss at the same spot. I really loved him, and I can't believe I was stupid enough to... ugh. It makes me feel like an idiot just thinking about it._

_I'd been lucky enough to have a second chance with him, but I thought that that chance was now slowly fading away. He let go of my hand for a second, so he could sit down on one of the swings. He used his legs to push himself off the ground, and then began to move back and forth gently. He motioned to the the swing next to him. I sat down._

_A surge of hot anger raced through me suddenly. Why was he being so secretive? My mother warned me about men that did things like this. There were a million and one questions I wanted to ask, but there was only one that seemed to stick out._

"_Why are you breaking up with me?"_

_He stopped the swing abruptly. "What?"_

_I was furious. "You heard me! Why are you breaking up with me? Why here? Why now?"_

_A stream of tears began to pour down my face. He gazed at me and smiled. He tried to hold me, but I held firm._

"_Don't try that with me! If you hate me so much, why'd you have t-"_

"_Sweetheart, let me jus-"_

"_No! I haven't finished! I'm not going to let you break up with me, not after all I've been thro-"_

"_Please, just shut up!", he half-yelled._

_I calmed down a little after that. He sighed._

"_Look, darling. It's not that I hate you, it's just that I don't want a girlfriend."_

_I bit my lip to stop me from crying out._

"_I understand.", I stammered through gritted teeth. _

_I got up to leave, but he took hold of my hand._

"_No, you don't. I don't want a girlfriend... because I want a wife."_

_My heart leaped. "...W-w-w-hat?" _

_He jumped off the swing and got down on one knee. The tears that had only just dried up a few seconds ago were now coming out of my eyes in trickles. He was still holding my hand, and was fishing in one of his pockets for something. He smiled as he produced a small, black box from one of them. I almost screamed with excitement._

"_Darling, I love you. And I would be honoured to have you as my bride." _

_He opened the box. I gasped. _

_It was empty. _

_He turned the box back towards him. Blinking in disbelief, he cursed._

"_I must have taken it out to have a look at it before I walked over... it's probably somewhere on my kitchen top now! Why am I always this stupid?"_

_He sat down, crossing his legs. He reminded me of a toddler that had had his favourite toy taken from him. It was enough to break my heart. Still, I sat down on the ground next to him and smiled._

"_I'm sure it was a beautiful ring."_

_Nothing. _

"_And... I bet most guys wouldn't have been this creative with their proposal."_

" I _bet most guys wouldn't have forgotten the ring."_

_I sighed. "Well, you've never been most guys. You're smart, you're funny when you don't try to be and you've got such lovable flaws. Like your completely unclordonic jokes..."_

_I picked up the box he had left on the ground._

"_And your forgetfulness. Now, was there something you were going to ask me?"_

_A small grin burst across his face. He held the open box in his hand, and got down on one knee. Gripping onto my hand, he asked that wonderful question:_

"_Abigail Lincoln, will you marry me?"_

_The tears had returned. "Of course I will!"_

_He slipped an imaginary ring on the fourth finger of my left hand. It fit perfectly. _

_After getting back onto his feet, we kissed. "Mrs. Abigail Gilligan... that has a very nice ring to it!", he joked._

_I smiled. Things were finally looking up for me. I was engaged to the man of my dreams, my daughter, Lara, was getting the father she always wanted and I had a funny story to tell her when she was older! Life didn't get much better than that. _

_We walked out of the park with our arms wrapped around each other. I was still blissfully unaware that HE was at my mother's house..._

* * *

**Ooo, cliffy! I was actually listening to 'Thnks Fr Th Mmrs' (Thanks For The Memories) by Fall Out Boy while I was writing this... how ironic. x****P**

**Reviewers get virtual lollipops! :)**

**Lots of hugs,**

**O- Lollipop**

**P.S. If you're a little slow today and actually believe that I own KND, I suggest you see a therapist. **

**P.P.S. I mean it.**


	12. Mrs Lincoln?

Numbuh 7

by Me!:)

**Disclaimer: I don't own KND. There, are you happy now?**

**Author's Note: Hi! I'm actually really, really, really sick at the moment. And for some reason, that's triggered something in my little brain, giving me the power to write! Yay germs!**

**On with the story...**

* * *

"Are we there yet?"

Deep breath.

"No."

A few seconds passed. "Okay then... how 'bout-,"

"No."

"But you didn't even hear what-,"

"I said NO!"

Kuki gulped.

"Jeez, who put a bee in her undies?", she muttered, thinking that Lara couldn't hear. Which she could.

Lara sighed. "I'm sorry Kuki... I'm not mad at you or anything, it's just.. ugh. I'm sorry."

As she tried to make sense of what she'd just been told, Kuki realised that this was the second most boring twenty minutes she'd ever spent. Hang on- only second? Oh yeah. The most boring had been a few days ago, when all this time travel lark had began.

It was then that Kuki realised she had three options; she could die of boredom, she could pray that another time traveling kid fell through the roof of the time machine, or...

"Let's sing songs!", she cried.

Wally groaned. "No, anything but that!"

"Aw, come on, Numbuh 4! It'll be fun!"

"Only if I get to pick the song, then."

Kuki hesitated. "Fine, then..."

Wally punched the air, and pretended that he was playing a guitar.

"_They're gonna clean up your looks..."_

* * *

_***_

* * *

_My mother's house didn't look anything out of the ordinary as we walked up to it. Everything seemed perfectly normal. But just as I knocked on the front door, I realised something was wrong. My eyes locked on Hoagie's._

"_I can't hear any Rainbow Monkeys," I said._

_Most men would have just stared me right in the face and wondered what I was on about. Nicer men would have asked if I was feeling okay. Even nicer men might have taken me home and looked after me. _

_But Hoagie knew._

_He knew that every time Lara stayed over with Grandma, she liked to watch 'Baby Rainbow Monkeys Go Bananas!' for hours on end. He'd spent so many nights watching it with her, trying to make her get to sleep, that he could recognise the character's voices almost instantly. And now, he couldn't hear anything either._

_Fearing the worst, I tried opening the door. When I found that it was locked, Hoagie managed to kick it down. _

_The sound of the falling door had nearly shattered my eardrums. Surely it would have woken Lara, not to mention my mother, if they had been sleeping. Yet, I couldn't hear anyone. _

"_Hello? Mrs. Lincoln?", Hoagie called._

"_Lara, sweetheart, where are you?", I tried._

_Silence._

"_Maybe I should go check upstairs-"_

"_No!", I interrupted him._

"_Why not?"_

"_Because," I began, "In all those old horror films, something bad happens whenever people searching a house split up. I know it sounds crazy, but I don't think it would be a good idea."_

_Hoagie smiled a little. "Alright, then. I'll help you look down here." _

_The corridor that you walked through when you entered the house had two doors on either side. On the left, was the kitchen. This had been where I'd left Lara with my mother this evening. The little dear had fallen fast asleep as soon as I'd put her in her chair... but had taken a little longer for Lara to nod off._

_We looked in the kitchen. Nothing._

_On the right side of the corridor was the living room. This is where Mum liked to watch episodes of Cash In The Attic, but often couldn't. Mainly because she could never find the remote._

"_Lara, Mum? Where are you both?"_

_My voice was wavering now. _

_Hoagie pulled me close to him. "I'm sure they're upstairs. Come on, let's go have a look."_

_We were walking out of the room when something on the coffee table caught my eye. _

"_What's this?", I said, picking up the neon-yellow arrow-shaped Post-it note. Mum was always forgetting things, but she always preferred the pink ones. Or at least, the green ones she thought were pink._

_Shaking, my eyes slowly digested what was on the note:_

Abby,

Came 2 spend a little time with my daughter. Hope u don't mind that I took her home.

U-No-Who

P.S. Your mother needs 911. She's upstairs.

"_Hoagie!", I screeched. "Run upstairs and find my mother! I'm going to call her an ambulance!"_

_He didn't need telling twice. If I hadn't been freaking out or trying to dial the Emergency Line, I probably would have admired his chivalry._

_But right then, my mind was racing. I couldn't believe what I'd just read, or what had happened. _

_That was why when I heard someone ask which Emergency Service I required, I passed out._

* * *

**Sorry! I couldn't resist another cliffy! Forgive me please!**

**And for anyone who doesn't know, Cash in the Attic is this show that my grandma and I watch when she's here and we're both bored. :P**

**Please review!**

**O- Lollipop**


	13. Of Teen Popstars And Hospitals

Numbuh 7

by Me!:)

**Disclaimer: Mr. Warburton caught me trying to swipe KND. When he yelled, "Lollipop, no swiping!", I knew that it could never be mine. True story. **

**Author's Note: Hey. :) I can't sleep, and I'm meant to be waking up for suhoor in three hours. For some reason, I seem to be the sort of person that gets creative at the worst moments. But better uber early in the morning than never!**

**On with the story...**

* * *

_It was the sound of the nurse walking in with breakfast that woke me up. "Great, you're awake," she said, cheerfully. _

_I freaked out for a moment. Where was I? Obviously the nurse was a clue, but it took me longer than it normally would've to work out that I was in hospital. It was kind of funny actually. Not the hospital part, but I smiled a little when I realised that the last time I'd woken up somewhere I didn't recognise, I was married to my now ex-husband._

_The nurse placed the breakfast tray on my lap. "Now, I hope you're not a vegetarian, because we're out of oatmeal." _

_I stared at my plate. Sausages, scrambled eggs and that little grilled tomato that no one actually eats. It was fried. It smelled gross. It was also food. Food that was now on the lap of someone that hadn't eaten for twenty-four hours. Doesn't take a genius to guess what happened next._

_Halfway through my first sausage, I stopped to thank her. _

_She grinned. "Don't, it's my job. And you're welcome."_

_Her smile was dazzling. Despite my dazed state, I could tell that she was Asian, about a year or so younger than me, with long black hair tied up in a ponytail. I still remember thinking that she was shockingly pretty. Not to mention familiar._

"_Hey, were you ever on _Grey's Anatomy?"

_She stared at me as if I'd just offered to wax her armpits. "Erm, no. At least, not that I'm aware of," she said, hesitantly. "Why d'ya ask?"_

"_It's...um. It's nothing." I smiled apologetically. "Never mind, sorry."_

"_Well, alright," she stood in the doorway. "The doctor should be in to see you in a little while to explain everything, but in the meantime, you've got a visitor."_

_Before I could ask anything, the nurse was already ushering my visitor in. He came and sat down in the chair next to my bed, grabbed my hand and then kissed it quickly. "Morning, sweetheart."_

"_I'll leave you guys to it then." The nurse walked out, shutting the door._

_I smiled. "Hoagie, you have no _idea _how glad I am to see you," I said, bringing his hand closer to me._

"_As am I," he answered. "I've had to wait here all night until you woke up. Aren't you lucky to have such an awesome fiancée?" He joked._

_Though Hoagie spoke with a loving tone, I could tell from his face that he had something on his mind. It looked like it was hurting him, but surely if he were hurting that bad, he would have told me, right? I mean, he's not my fiancée for nothing- Hang on a second. Fiancée. _Fi_ancée. Fian_cée_._

_Where had that word come from? When I saw Hoagie walk in, I'd thought he was my boyfriend. How come he was calling me his... Oh God. _

_And that's when it all came back. The text... the swings... the imaginary ring... my mother's house..._

_God Almighty, what had happened to my mother?! Were people looking after her? Did the ambulance arrive in time? More importantly, where the heckwas she?! And where was- Wait. Hoagie's bound to know. I bet she was already at home, with her Grandma. Naturally, they must have been knackered, but everything was fine. The ambulance crew had looked after Mother, and while they were leaving, they'd spotted something, like a trail of glitter perhaps, and followed it until they found her. I knew all that. But I thought that it would still be best to double check ._

"_Hoagie, where's Lara?" I asked._

_He let go of my hand and bowed his head. No response._

_I tried again. "Hoagie... where's Lara?" _

_Still no response._

_I could hear myself breathing heavily. "Where's my baby? Did they find her? Hoagie, what happened to my daughter?" I was on the verge of screaming now. "Where's my mother? Is she here? What was wrong?"_

_Being so caught up in all this, I'd forgotten a really important question. A question I should have asked myself when I woke up. A question I should have asked the nurse, when she'd brought me sausages. A question I needed to ask now..._

"_Hoagie," I said, barely audible. "What am I even doing here?"_

* * *

"All together now!"

"_Teenagers scare, the living stuff out of me!" _Kuki yelled back. As much as she had complained about Wally's choice of song, she couldn't help but join in with everyone else eventually.

"_They could care less,"_

In the driver's seat, Lara was clearly starting to tense up.

"_...as long as someone'll bleed!"_

She was the only one not singing...

"_So, darken your clothes."_

...and now thought that calming down was a good idea.

"_Or strike a violent pose."_

But then again...

"_Maybe they'll leave you alone, BUT NOT-"_

"Shut the heck up!" Lara screamed, slamming her foot on the break.

"_...Me._" Wally couldn't resist whispering.

Lara turned to face the kids in the back seat. "If you lot want to get back to your decade in one piece- actually, if you guys want to get back to your decade _at all_, then you need to keep quiet so I can concentrate on what I'm doing!"

Everyone stared at their shoes in embarrassment, but Lara couldn't think why. It wasn't like she'd never yelled at them like that before... oh. Oh, right.

"But if you guys really want to sing," she began in a much softer tone. "Then the least you could do is pick something decent! That song is _soooo_ old..."

"Then what's your definition of 'something decent'?" Hoagie asked, mimicking Lara's voice.

Lara smirked. "You guys ever heard of Miley Cyrus?"

"Oh, yes we have!" Nigel said before anyone else could. "Using her 'singing', she has been able to place an entire generation of kids under her spell! The adults could call on her at any time to get her to gather an army with her hypnotism powers! Now I don't know about the kids in _your _decade, but here in the noughties, she is one of the many celebrities that we keep under our radar!"

There was a pause. Lara looked upset, as if the one bridge she'd managed to build had been burned down.

"Sorry," Lara quietly replied. "I looked her up once, and she seemed pretty cool. I guess I- never mind."

Lara checked her mirrors for any other time machines going the other way, and then released the break.

As always, Hoagie felt it was his duty to break the silence.

"So... I've been thinking..."

"For once," Wally muttered.

Hoagie glared at him, but went on. "What happens if- err..._when_ we find your parents?"

"What d'you mean?"

"Well... what are you gonna tell them? If a girl came up to me and said that I was going to be her dad someday, I'd be a little freaked out, personally."

Lara tightened her grip on the steering wheel slightly. Now was probably the best time to tell them.

"I've got something to tell you all..." She tried. "I'm not looking for my parents."

Everyone held their breath, until Lara realised what they thought she said.

"Sorry, sorry, that's not what I meant. Of course I'm looking for my parents, you all know that. It's just they're not the... _entire _reason I picked this particular date, time and place to visit."

Abby gulped. "Then... what, or who, is?"

"My dad."

Eyebrows were raised. "But you just said your parents weren't-"

"I know, I know. It doesn't make much sense, but what you need to understand is that my dad and my father are two _completely _different people."

"Is their a story behind that?" Nigel queried.

"Why, indeed there is."

* * *

Nothing happened.

"Um... Lara? That ruler thingy means you have to start telling the story now." Hoagie prompted.

She looked at him in the rear view mirror. "No, it doesn't."

"Look, I get that you're new to all this, so I'm just telling you that whenever the ruler thingy shows up, there's a change of scene."

"Well, not this time."

"Why not?"

"Because why should I tell you what happened, when I can just _show _you?"

Before any of them could ask any questions, the robotic male voice boomed over the speakers. "Journey. Complete. Welcome. Back."

* * *

**Hope you guys enjoyed it! And sorry it took so long for me to write it.**

**Reviewers, I don't think you guys and gals know how much I appreciate you. It just means a lot that people are enjoying, even bothering to **_**read**_**, this story. And please don't hold the fact that I rarely reply against me. I'm a good person (cough)sometimes(cough)!**

**Anyways, please review!**

**Lollipop**

**O-**

**P.S. For anyone who was wondering what suhoor is, it's this thing people eat before they fast during Ramadan. I'm not sure if that's how it's spelled in English, but that's basically how it's pronounced in Arabic. :P**

**P.P.S. Ramadan Kareem! **


	14. This Moment

**Numbuh 7**

**by ME:)**

**Disclaimer: The author of this work does not own KND. In fact, she's doesn't even own her own happiness anymore. If you would like to help, please PM her as much 'Happy Paper' as you can. Thank you for your co-operation.**

**Author's Note: Okay, so I'm not really depressed, but I'm very sorry that I haven't updated in so long. I've tried to make this chapter extra long to make up for it. Jooz doez fowgivez meez? (Sorry, I was just looking at LOL cats :P)**

**By the way, I'd like to dedicate this chapter (and possibly anything else I write :P ) to MaxandFang101. She knows why. :)**

**On with the story...**

* * *

_Before Hoagie could open his mouth, the nurse from before had already walked in, clutching a clipboard. She still had one hand on the door, as if she was waiting for someone else to follow behind her. And they did._

_If it hadn't been for the lab coat or surgical gloves, he could have easily belonged in some old chick flick I'd rented in my teens. He was fairly short, with blonde, shaggy hair and designer stubble. (Of course, he didn't have anything on my Hoagie. But he was getting there.)_

_"Good morning, Miss Lincoln," he said in an accent I was too exhausted to place. "I hope you're feeling well."_

_I hadn't heard many people speak like that before. Was he English?_

_"You actually should be good to go this morning. Nothing to worry about, just a simple vasovagal response-"_

_"A what?"_

_"A vasovagal response," the doctor repeated to Hoagie. He seemed slightly smug as he explained (in an… Irish accent, maybe?) what apparently caused my fainting. I noticed that during the course of this the doctor kept looking back to the nurse, as if to say, "See? I'm smart too." Now that I look back on that, it actually seemed kinda cute._

_But I wasn't in the mood for 'cute' that day._

_I interrupted the doctor while he was mid-sentence. "Where's my mother?" Though I spoke the words normally, in my head I screamed them._

_To my surprise, the doctor only seemed to be upset that I had stopped him from speaking (in his... Kiwi accent… I think?). The nurse raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at me. "I'm sorry? Were you expecting her to visit?"_

_Visit?… Really? She thought my mother would be able to VISIT me?_

_"No, of course not. I mean, where is she in the hospital?"_

_The doctor and the nurse seemed to look to each other for help. "Go and get the therapist, Nurse Sanban," I heard the doctor whisper. "Tell her we have a very strange case of trauma on our hands." She responded by scribbling something down on her clipboard._

_Whilst both hearing and seeing this, I realised that I had to be more specific."You know, as in, what room is she in? Are people taking care of her? Is she recovering? Were there any wounds? Is 2Pac still-"_

_"It's okay, doctor." I stopped when I felt Hoagie's hand rest on mine. He squeezed it and then asked, "Would you mind leaving us alone for a little while?"_

_The doctor nodded. I saw him run to hold the door open for Nurse Sanban. She smiled at him coyly, seemingly oblivious to the tension that was quickly building. They left. I turned to Hoagie, wanting to scream all of my questions at him. Instead, I settled for something a little less melodramatic._

"_Tell me everything."_

* * *

Fortunately for Sector V, Lara had finally managed to hone her landing skills since her last time travelling trip.

Try saying that ten times fast! Time travelling trip, time travelling trip, time trav-

"Shut up, ya cruddy Narrator," Wally grumbled.

While the Narrator wondered whether to let the tree next to where they'd landed fall in line with where Wally was sitting, Lara turned to the back seat and beamed. "We're here! Aren't you guys exicted? I'm quite excited, I mean, why wouldn't I be? I'm back behind the wheel of a beautiful time machine- which I fixed all by myself- and I managed to land it in the back garden of my own care home in the past without a single fatality!- well, it's the past for me, I guess for you guys it's the future or rather, it will be, you know, when you guys are grown ups and out of the KND and everyth-". She stopped when she felt someone from the back cover her mouth.

"Geff off or I'rr rick your hanffs!"

Hoagie very swiftly recoiled them. And even more swiftly smothered them with 'Healthy, Happy Rainbow Monkey Hand Sanitiser.'

Lara sighed. "Sorry, guys. I guess I'm just really happy to be back." She smiled wistfully. "Okay, well we better hurry if we want to get there in time. Seatbelts off, everyone!"

No one moved.

"Guys, I said 'seatbelts off'. That means we're leaving."

"Yeah, we know." Nigel looked her in the eyes. "I guess we were expecting some kind of, I don't know... a voice-controlled-seatbelt-unbuckler or something."

Lara laughed. "To be honest, I was actually hoping the same thing when I rented this. Turns out only the navigation system is voice-controlled. Well, that and the hot chocolate machine."

Suddenly, a series of lights on the dashboard started to blink. And then, quite anti-climatically, a polystyrene cup filled with hot chocolate popped up into the cup holder next to the gear stick. "Hot cocoa ready," the smooth female voice said.

Lara picked up the drink and took a swig. She swirled it around in her mouth, swallowed and then smacked her lips. "Could be a bit sweeter," she finally decided.

"I thought we were in a hurry," Wally grumbled.

"Oh good gravy, yes! Yes, we totally are." Flustered, Lara undid her seatbelt and checked the clock on her dashboard. "Right, it's quarter to three now. Which means we still have another thirty minutes before everyone starts to arrive."

"Arrive for what?"

"Let's just get out of the car first. Then I'll explain."

* * *

_Hoagie looked at the floor and took a deep breath. Giving my hand a squeeze, he turned to face me. "Your mother is fine. I'm just going to get that out there right now. When I ran upstairs, I found her fast asleep."_

_My eyes widened. "Wait, are you sure she was asleep? I mean, she's getting older now, so-"_

"_Don't worry. I checked. She's at home now, and... well, I still haven't been able to tell her everything just yet."_

_I played what he'd just said over in my mind. Something... something still didn't make sense. "But if she's okay, then why did the note-" Oh no._

_Hoagie hesitated. "The police think that..."_

_The police? They were involved too?_

_Oh, it was all coming back. _

'Came to spend a little time with my daughter... took her home...'

_Why me? Why now?_

"_Well, from what they've gathered and everything..."_

_Please, God, no._

"_That... um, that someone was trying to stall us."_

_Though my maternal instinct was crying the answer out at me, I asked him anyway. "...Stall us for what?"_

_Silence. He turned away from me then, and paused for a moment, as if not telling me would mean that it wasn't true._

"_Hoagie?" I felt him take a deep breath._

"_It's Michael." His gaze stayed fixed on the floor. "Abby, Michael took Lara."_

* * *

Stepping out of the time-machine, all Nigel could do was stare. The way the car was parked meant that they had all had their backs to the building and most of the garden, so he hadn't seen anything before he'd got out.

The future was so... pink.

The back garden of 'Drilovsky's Care Home' had been decorated to look like something out of a Disney movie. And no, not High School Musical. A proper Disney fairytale, with princesses and fairies and irritating-yet-adorable talking animals. Streamers and brightly coloured balloons hung from the tall tree on the left side of the garden. A large table decorated with a pink 'Oh-So-So In Love Rainbow Monkeys' table cloth ran down from the tree to a fence that was just a little too high for any of them to lean on. He counted fifteen white plastic chairs around it, including one at the end closest to the door. Four pink helium balloons hung from the back of-

_Wait a second,_ he thought. _Are we at a-_

"Okay, girl, start talking," Abby said as she slammed the time-machine door behind her. "What was so special about today?"

_I know, _Nigel thought_._

Lara seemed to wince as she locked it. "Today." She paused thoughtfully.

_It's painfully obvious! Can't any of you see it?_

"Today..."

"Yes, today," Hoagie said, annoyed.

"Yesterday? But I thought we were talking about today?"

_Have I taught you nothing?_

Lara grinned. "I don't have to!"

_That. Is. It._

"Why do you keep saying that?" Nigel thought out loud, "It's not clever, it's never been funny, or witty or mysterious... or, or... well, um, I've never found you attractive!"

_Heck yeah! That'll show- aw, insertswearwordhere. _

If it weren't for Wally and Hoagie trying to suppress their laughter, the silence that followed Nigel's outburst was rather awkward.

Lara was stunned. "Al-um, alright then." Staring at the ground, she for once seemed speechless. Abby, though a little shocked (yet very amused) herself, decided to take matters into her own hands.

"Well, Numbuh 5 thinks what Numbuh 1 meant was that it's pretty clear that we're at a birthday party," she turned to Lara, "Now, am I right in saying that it's yours?"

Lara nodded. "It's my fourth, actually. And what happened today was- or 'is'-or even '_will be'_ really important to me."

"Okay, and do you mind if Numbuh 5 asks what that was?"

"I... I..."

* * *

_The year that followed was the toughest of my life. From that day on, Hoagie and I were constantly in and out of courtrooms. _

_They found him that that night. I was surprised at first; but then I realised that he probably wanted to be found. _

_When we'd first got divorced, I'd got sole custody of Lara easy peasy. For one, mothers almost always get the kids. It might sound cynical, but it's the truth. My husband had never been home to take care of her, and she'd infinitely preferred Hoagie (just my friend at the time) as a 'father figure'. _

_But this time, it was different. Michael was prepared – he had his story ruler-straight. He told the court that he was just taking Lara home for the night, and my mother had said it was fine. I said that was ridiculous, my mother would never allow anything like that. _

_The Judge told us to calm down, and that was when Michael gave me the second biggest shock I'd ever had._

_He said the relationship I had with Hoagie both during and after our marriage had been detrimental to Lara's wellbeing. _

_In other words, he was calling Hoagie out._

_Well, I let him have it. _

"_You have some nerve! You flipping _kidnapped _my daughter! Hoagie's got more good parenting skills in the tip of his little finger than you will ever have in your entire body!"_

_And so it was decided. The Judge couldn't take either of us anymore, and my baby was taken into care. Taken. Just like that. Well alright, it was a little more complicated. But going into details isn't going to bring her back to me._

_I stopped writing after that. Only one of my books had ever made any money, and that was only after Hoagie had bought a copy for Lara. Even she didn't seem to like it. So I had to apologise to my publisher and tell him that I wouldn't be able to continue writing about that stupid Dolphin Princess or whatever she was. If I couldn't make my own daughter happy, why should I try and do the same for other people's children'? _

_I'm still not sure what possessed him to take her that day. I don't think I ever will be. _

_Yes, they let me say goodbye. I remember holding her as if she were the only person that mattered. That the rest of the world was gone, and it was just the two of us. _

_I don't know what I'd do without Hoagie. When all my family, including my mother and sister stopped any kind of contact with me, he stayed with me through it all. Even when I told him that I don't want us to get married without her, he understood. _

_It's her birthday today. And I know it sounds sick, but some part of me still hopes that he doesn't see her. I would mean the world to him if he did, but if anyone saw him there, he... we could be... I don't want to think about it. _

* * *

_Okay, let's try this again._

"_Hi. I'm Hoagie. You don't remember me, but your mother and I are engaged."_

_No. Too weird._

"_Wow, you're pretty-"_

Definitely _not._

_I know! What if I did a dance number? She'd love that! I could go up to her and be all like,"Hey there, I'm your...daddy, daddy cool! Daddy, daddy-"_

_You know what? I'll think of something. _

_I fold away the mirror and unfold the road map I found in the glove compartment. Stupid thing, I was never any good at reading them. Ok, let's try and see where I've gone. My house is here. I've been down this street, and that street and now I've parked means that if I drive... um, straight ahead, then turn right- no, left at the News Agents', then I should be on Summerhill Street. And if I'm on __Summerhill Street, then Drilovsky's should be just around the... Aha! Found it! Now let's get going._

_God, why did I have to parallel park? Easy now, slow and steady, slow and steady... I'm out! This calls for some theme music! Where's my Shrek soundtrack CD? Oh, here we go-_

"_I'm on my way, from misery to happiness today-ay-ay. Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh..."_

* * *

Lara cleared her throat. "Well, it was all a little bit weird. And by 'a little bit' I mean, 'extremely'. And by 'weird' I mean... weirder than when Barack Obama tried to make Twitter illegal in New South Californiconsin!"

They all looked at her blankly.

"What's New South Californiconsion?"

"What's Twitter?"

"What's a Barack Obama?"

Lara slapped her forehead. "Oh, right! Sorry! You... you'll find out when you're older. Anyway, I was walking outside, when I saw-"

"Lara! You can't go there yet! No one's here!"

Everyone froze. "Crud," Wally cried. "Who's that?"

"Shh! That' s Mrs. Drilovsky, she and her husband own this place. We need to hide!"

"What about the time-machine?"

"That's a clordone idea! Let's go behind there!"

"No! Numbuh 5 meant what are we going to do with it? This tree won't hide much; that Drilovsky lady's gonna get all kinds of suspicious!"

"There's no time! We have to-"

A bright little voice interrupted her. "But Mrs. Drilovsky, I just want to see-"

"Hide!"

They all jumped behind the time-machine, praying that they wouldn't be found. They had no way of seeing what was going on at the door, but that was compensated with an okay view of the fence.

Pit, pat. Pit, pat.

Four year old Lara's footsteps were getting louder. The back door to the home was opened fully, creaking as it did so. A gasp. "Oh my Goodness!"

Hoagie grimaced. "She's seen us! We're rumbled."

"...What an ugly car!"

Older Lara pouted. "I think it's rather cute, actually."

"Keep your voice down!" Nigel clapped his hand over her mouth, much to her horror. "She isn't suspicious... yet."

Little Lara moved closer to the time-machine. "Hmm, I wonder what happens if I-"

"Lara!" A male voice came from the other side of the fence. Older Lara's eyes widened when she realised who it belonged to. A young man with bronze coloured hair and thick framed glasses was beaming at her younger self. "I can't believe it." His voice kept the same tone, but sounded much softer.

Nigel could feel Older Lara's breathing speed up and heard her mumbling to herself. "This... this... I... I..."

"Hello, sir." Four year-old Lara dressed in a pink party frock and with her long brown hair in bunches came into their view, "How do you know my name?"

The man hesitated. "I'm... you don't remember me?"

* * *

_She doesn't remember me?_

_I suppose that was to be expected. She was only two the last time I saw her. _

"_Well, you do seem familiar. Not weird enough to be a stranger."_

_Her accent's kind of strange. It's not quite English... but it's not quite Irish either. Maybe she's been watching _'Harry Potter's Children' _too much. Gosh, she's adorable. Even with Michael as a father. _

"_Have Mr. and Mrs. Drilovsky taught you about talking to strangers?"_

_She nods._

"_That's very good of them."_

"_They're my parents! Well, not really. I had real parents, but they're in a better place now." _

What?

"_Who told you that, sweetheart?"_

"_Mrs. Lincoln." _

_Mrs. Whojamawhatsit? It's not- no. Just a coincidence. It couldn't be. "Who's she?"_

"_She's a very nice old lady who comes to visit us sometimes. She gives me cookies and tells me stories. Sometimes... sometimes sh even tells me about my parents. She says that they were very close," she replies, gnawing on her thumbnail._

"_You still haven't answered my question you know," she says after a long pause. "You haven't told me how you know my name."_

_I chuckle. "Persistent little thing, aren't you? You probably get that from your mother."_

_Her eyes grew wide. "You know my Mummy?"_

_I grin madly. Crud._

* * *

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh..." Older Lara's mumbling was sounding more and more urgent. "This... this... this is what we came back for..." Nigel looked at her nervously.

"For... for this moment. For right now."

* * *

"_Well, sweetheart, I'm- I_ was_, very good friends with your Mummy. In fact, we..." Could I tell her? What would she think? Crud cruddity crud crud crud. "In fact, she let me meet you when you were little."_

_She smiles. "Really?" Oh God, she looks so happy, what do I do? I shouldn't have come here, I'm only making things worse for all of us. _

"_Oh, yes. But, um... I wasn't very good friends with your father."_

"_Why?" Her face falls. "Is that because he was away all the time?"_

_I pause. "Something like that. Lara, do you want to know something?"_

_She starts to move away. "I think... I think Mrs. Drilovsky said she wants me to go back-"_

"_Come on, just a moment. It's important."_

_She hesitates. "Well... okay me."_

"_Do you know the difference between a father and a dad?"_

"_Yes, of course," I'm taken aback until she says, "Mr. Drilovsky taught us. He said that the man and the lady who were our parents before we came here- they're our mother and our father. They got us from the stork and everything."_

_I smile at that, but she continues. "But when they went away – when they went to the better place, like my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Drilovsky became our new parents. They're looking after us and helping us grow up. That's what makes them our Mum and Dad."_

_Wow, check out my daughter! Hallmark eat your heart out! "That's a lot better than how I 'd have explained it, but I completely agree with you. That difference is very, very important." I look her right in the eyes and lower my voice for this. "It's something you should never, ever forget."_

"_LARA! Get back inside right now, young lady," a woman with an Irish accent screams._

"_I really should be going- it was very nice to meet you, Mr..."_

"_Nice to see you again too, take care. Oh, and Happy Birthday!"_

_I sprint like the wind until I reach my car. I lean on the door on the driver's side, trying to get my breath back. As I'm standing there, I get the weirdest feeling. Like... like I'm being watched._

_I turn around. No one there. I'm just going crazy. _

_I turn back, and- HolyCrudThere'sABunchOfKidsInFrontOfMe!_

"_Um, hey guys. Can I help you?"_

_The blink at me. I count them. Three boys, three girls- WOW. Just. Just wow._

_I point at the boy in a light blue shirt and cargo pants and laughed nerviously. "Hey, you know this'll sound really weird, but you look exactly like I did when I was a kid. Exactly. I'm talking spitting image." _

_They gasp and look at each other. A girl with glasses gulps. _

"_What? I didn't mean it as an insult or anything, you should really consider it a-"_

_Blue Shirt seems to ignore me as his eyes grow wide and he begins to stutter. "Does that... does that mean I'm... I... you... we're...?" _

_Glasses raises a hand to stop him. "No. No, you aren't." She turns to face me, and for a moment, I'm scared. Then to my surprise, she hugs me. _

_We stay like that for a while, and I look to the other kids, as if they'll have any idea what the heck their friend is doing. They smile back at me, and the shortest one has tears in his eyes. _

"_Is this some kind of joke?"_

_I feel Glasses laugh. "No, Dad. They're just happy I didn't forget."_

* * *

**Heck yes! I've finally got out another chapter! Virtual high fives all round!**

**I love all of you who've read this – I'm 100% sincere. **

**Please review:)**

Lollipop


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